Harmonia Rosales: Reclaiming African Myth & Womanhood Through Art and Story

Author/Artist - Harmonia Rosales

Harmonia Rosales has become one of the most compelling artistic voices of our time. Born in Chicago and now based in Los Angeles, the Afro-Cuban American painter is known for boldly reimagining African mythology, honoring the diaspora, and centering Black womanhood in places where history once erased it.

Growing up, Rosales admired the mastery of Renaissance art, the precision, technique, and drama. But she was equally aware of what those paintings often represented: Eurocentric ideals, power structures that excluded people who looked like her, and narratives that diminished or erased Black women. Rather than reject the canon, she chose to transform it.

Her work bridges beauty and rebellion, creating what she calls a “harmony between the struggling dichotomies.” The result is a visual world where Black women stand as deities, rulers, and creators, figures of strength, memory, and spiritual power.

A Visual Language Rooted in Ancestry

Rosales’s paintings are instantly recognizable. Her subjects, often inspired by Orishas, the divine spirits of Yoruba

cosmology, are rendered with rich, dark skin illuminated by brilliant blue and silver tones. This luminescent glow lifts them beyond physical reality, inviting viewers into a mythic universe that stretches far beyond the canvas.

Drawing from her Afro-Cuban identity, Rosales uses each figure to honor her ancestors and promote self-love, urging viewers to look beyond religious associations and engage with the deeper historical and cultural stories meant to heal and empower. At its core, her art centers on sympathy, empathy, and liberation, her luminous figures acting as mirrors that reflect both individual and collective struggles while inviting us to imagine a world where Black womanhood is not marginalized, but divine.

Expanding the Canvas: Chronicles of Ori

This year, Rosales entered a new creative chapter with the release of her debut book, Chronicles of Ori: An African Epic. It officially launched on October 14, following a powerful celebration at Sotheby’s Los Angeles on October 12.

The event, sponsored by the Harrison & Brittany Barnes Community Fund, featured a captivating conversation between Rosales and Ms. Tina Knowles. They discussed art, ancestry, and the significance of reclaiming stories that “were once scattered across oceans,” as Rosales beautifully described.

Chronicles of Ori brings to life the African myths Rosales has long woven into her paintings. The book spans the birth of the universe to eras of colonialism and resistance, introducing readers to:

• The Orishas, temperamental and powerful deities

• Oduduwa, founder of Yorubaland

• Eve, a young heroine rising from despair to restore her people

• Shimmering serpents and shadowed creatures that roam the mortal world

At the heart of the epic lies the relationship between humans and the Orishas, beings who crafted humanity and bestowed upon them their Oris, or destinies.

It’s a sweeping, cinematic retelling of mythology that both enlightens and enchants. For longtime admirers of Rosales’s art, the book deepens her message; for new readers, it offers an entry point into a vast and vibrant spiritual universe.

Follow the Tour & Explore the Story

Harmonia Rosales is currently on tour sharing the world of Chronicles of Ori with audiences across the country. If you have the chance to see her in person, the conversations are as inspiring as the artwork itself.

You can order Chronicles of Ori: An African Epic here:

https://a.co/d/hU2k06z

Harmonia Rosales & Maurice "Reece" Smith

Lineage:

Harmonia Rosales is the wife of Maurice “Recce” Smith;

Maurice is the son of Marva Rice-Swan (Wayne);

Grandson of Martha Bell-Montgomery & Rev. W. H. Rice;

Great-grandson of Willie C. Bell & Maggie Berry–Smith;

Great-Great-Grandson of Lucinda Alford-Bell and Ivory Bell; and

Great-Great-Great-Grandson of Matthew Solomon Alford & Lucy Berry-Alford.